Selling Out: Stars, Celebrities And Politicians

This is the Arabic edition of what star sang for what leader/dictator/president/king. This is tricky business because one day, the song subject might be popular, the next day he is a murder. I think it's really hard to figure out the reality. We change and people change, stars are people and sometimes they do songs for money, access and protection.

1. Oum Kalthoum sang for the last King of Egypt, She also sang for the guy who overthrew him too. Sabah, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Abdel Halim Hafiz have all sang for leaders and politicians. Other stars of the golden age have also sucked up to the power holders.
2.  Najwa Karam Sang for Bashar Al Assad--days after he took office in 2000. She was not the only one to do so. Assi Al Hallani did too and so have done 3 out of five Lebanese singers.
3. George Wassouf have sang not to one leader, but to two of them. He did sing for Bashar Al Assad, and also for the Tunisian dictator Ben Ali and his lovely money hugging wife. 
4. Kathem Al Saher, Tamer Hosny, Latifah (to name few) have all sang while Ben Ali and his regime was present. 
5. Ruoida Attiah have also took part of a music event where Bashar was also present. 
6. Hussein Al Jasmi have snag for Qaddafi and attended one his many celebrations on the day he took over the country. Amr Diab, Fadel Shaker, Assi Hallani and Myraim Faris have all taken part of this celebration in different years.
7. Amr Diab And Sherine have all sang for Mubarak and celebrated his regime. Sherine has sang a song for him in 2010 after his surgery in Germany. Amr Moustafa remains one of those artists who are loyal to the former president Mubarak. 
8. Julia Butrous have sang for Hezbollah in the wake of the 2006 year war where Hezbollah scored big moral victory over Israel. Her song was timely and came in the wake of a war that rocked everyone in Lebanon. Assi Hallani sang for Hariri after his assassination, Melhim Barkat did a song for Emil Lahoud after he won the election.  
9. Susan Attieh, Lutfi Boushnaq, Samira Said, and Samira Tawfik have also came to Iraq and celebrated with Saddam.
10. Assi Hallani have sang for everyone in Arabia, including Qaddafi, Assad, King of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh of the UAE and his horses too.  

Again, this is just a sample, there are many more singers who have brown nosed the regime and certain leaders. What I think is this, artists have a choice: either sing, make money and get a concert or don't and people will not remember you for long. Above all those voices, Fayrouz, she has never taken the side of a politican or a leader....she is the artist for the people.